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2011-07-25 - Helping Hands, Helping Hearts
Bank robbery? No. Mugging? Guess again. Supervillain monster rampage? Not at all. No, this is something horrid but not criminal. A massive pile-up at the intersection. Much of it has been taken care of but there's still plenty of work to do. Heart Girl is there, helping the paramedics by lifting, tearing, and ripping apart metal so people can be rescued from cars. Somewhere down the street, a small form spots the accident's aftermath and those struggling to help the trapped and the injured. A moment's close consideration, and that figure slips into an alleyway. There's a flash of blue-white light. A few moments later, a gleaming knight, straight out of a storybook or some movie, comes striding out of the alleyway with sword at hip, shield across his arm, a large metal lance in his hand. He marches to the side of one of the paramedics, clapping his lance-carrying hand over his heart. "May I offer my aid, Sirrah?" This guy just can't be serious. "Umm...." The paramedic stares at the guy in armor and then nods. "If you've got super strength or something, you can work with the fire crew over there. We don't have enough gear to deal with all these cars quickly. Someone who can pull open cars under direction..." Meanwhile. Heart Girl is walking next to a woman as she's carried on a stretcher from her car to over to the ambulance. Pink energy surrounds her lips as she leans down and kisses th woman on the forehead. The pink energy travels into the woman, sufusing her in a warm glow. "Gladly. I wish you well, Sirrah." the armored figure offers, and goes tromping off quite eagerly to the fire crews working on pulling folks out of the cars, mentioning to those he encounters that the gentleman suggested he might be able to lend a hand. With mythic steel lance and his strength, he can probably do a good bit to help peel people out of this wreckage. He also seems to have an uncanny knack - proven a couple of times - to completely diagnose those trapped in locations where the med techs can't get a good read on them. All he seems to need is to touch them, and he can tell their condition and needs, even if he cannot address them himself. There's another hour of work before the tow trucks begin hooking up cars and hauling them away. Heart Girl and Man-at-Arms can help with that as well, lifting vehicles and placing them on flatbeds. Once its over, the paramedics and fire people thank the pair of unregistered heroes. The cops present conveniently forget to arrest them. And they're on their way. "We should get off the street before they turn the lights back on." Heart Girl says to her fellow powered person, smiling. Waves of calm roll off of her, like a tide of good will. "Of course, M'Lady. An honor to have made your acquaintance." the armored figure offers, with a flourishing bow to Heart Girl. With but a few moments' concentration, he lifts his shield and a flare of blue-white light heralds the appearance of a mighty white stallion, bedecked in equally gleaming metal armor. He mounts with a swift and sure, agile display of grace, and then looks to the lovely blonde. "May I offer you a ride from here, M'Lady? I would not wish that we tarry here any longer." Good Lord, he really does talk like this. Impressed despite herself, Heart Girl watches the flourishing bow. And then? "Ooooooh..." Her eyes widen and sparkle and she's having a hard time not shouting HORSE! And throwing her arms around the magnificent beast's neck. "Well, I can fly but... okay!" She's almost bouncing as she accepts a hand and allows herself to be pulled up behind Man-at-Arms, astride the amazing mount. The armored figure lefts Heart Girl easily up astride the massive white charger. The horse lifts its forehooves up, neighing a challenge, and then leaps into the sky, hooves pounding on air. The horse, with its burden, rides up into the air witht he sort of ease one would expect on the ground, accelerating to incredible speeds in the process. The armored warrior guides the steed across the sky, heading for an open rooftop somewhere around Battery Park, guiding the horse in for a graceful landing where they can settle in and talk, well out of the way of others'. Oooh! OOOOOOH! Heart Girl laughs with unadulterated glee as the horse leaps into the air and runs along the breeze. She screams with delight, like a kid of a roller coaster. When, finally, the horse settles on the rooftop she's giggling. "Sorry. That was just so much fun!" The handsome figure of a man smiles, twisting about and reaching back to wrap an arm around Heart Girl, lifting her down from the back of the steed to settle her on the rooftop, then dismounting smoothly himself and offering her a flourishing bow. "I am pleased you enjoyed the ride, M'Lady. Please, allow me to introduce myself? I am Man-at-Arms. Thank you for allowing me to offer you this ride." Clearly, that has offered not just a chance for totally awesome horsey time, but also introductions. Yay? Indeed! Heart Girl curtsies, through she doesn't have quite the same grace in manner as the Man-at-Arms. "I'm Heart Girl. I'm the avatar of the elemental emotion of love." She's very precise in how she says this. All the while, peace, serenity, and good feelings slide off of her. "Lady Heart, a pleasure and an honor." Man-at-Arms offers, smiling. There is, to Heart Girl's empathic senses, a true sense of glee, excitement, a real thrill coursing through Man-at-Arms, an eagerness like someone getting to indulge in a favorite secret pasttime. But there is also a sense of shame and confusion, buried deep but ever-present, whatever it's focus or source. "I must confess, I am nothing so amazing as an avatar of an elemental emotion. I am merely a magical representation of an ideal of heroism. And I am rather new at this, to be honest." "We both represent something very important, then!" Heart Girl absorbs the information. Unlike most supers, she didn't have an adjustment period for her powers. Didn't have to learn them. Its instinct. A gift to her from her patron. "So am I." She offers. "Don't worry too much. Try your best. Pay attention. Don't leap onto violence as the first solution." Man-at-Arms gestures with his shield meaningfully. For some reason, this resonates very deeply with him. "The first duty of any hero is the defense of those in need and the aid of the helpless. Engaging in battle with the forces of darkness ought be but a distant third." Well, at least they seem to agree on that front, right? "I suppose that is why the avatar of love does not carry a bow?" That was clearly an attempt at humor. Only time will tell how successfull it was. "The avatar of love can lift a pick-up truck and is bullet-proof." Heart Girl says, her voice echoing with humor. There isn't even a hint of rebuke. "Maybe a long distance sort of attack would be useful but I like to think my voice is my best weapon." Man-at-Arms chuckles wryly at that. "The Power of Love, indeed. I have found I am very strong, as well. My armor and my defense shield are definitely bullet-proof, but I do not believe my /skin/ is, so that is quite impressive. As for a long-distance attack, the best I myself have to offer is a charge with my lance, which is not exactly what I had in mind." He pauses for a bit, thinking of something that makes him tense. "I take it you're not registered either?" Her nose wrinkles. "Government interferance in the lives of people seeking to improve the world." Heart Girl growls with distaste. "Telling us who to be, how to be it. Making us into weapons. I sound arrogant but the very source of the most powerful emotion in existence chose me. I don't believe I need the government's approval to be what I am." Man-at-Arms nods, his emotions ringing strong agreement with many of Heart Girl's sentiments, even if there is some uncertainty there. "The best I can offer is that I operate without a mask, use no vehicle nor scientific gadget. Like it or not, the law as written does not apply to me." Not entirely true, given that clearly there is a secret identity hidden in there somewhere. But a brave stance, nonetheless. A heroic one. "I have no desire to see the government overthrown, but there must be checks against the power that would slaughter children attending a school for the quirk of their birth and their desire to learn more about it, to take control of their lives. So I will continue to do what I can to help." "Well said." Heart Girl doesn't leap onto the obvious problems. The uncertainty. The logical flaws. The fact that the government will see things differently. "I've met Superboy. He invited me to join his Young Justice. I told him I would consider it. I... don't know for certain that I am a superhero. That my path lies with them." Man-at-Arms fairly radiates a profound, deep guilt and sadness, though it shows not at all on his face. Instead, there is only an earnest seriousness as he responds. "I inherited the legacy o a fallen hero. I owe it to the one who fell, in whose place I now stand, to do my best. I do not know how good a superhero I will make, but that is what I have to be. For everyone's sake." "Responsibility isn't easy." Heart agrees. "Mine is to make it possible for people to better feel love. That doesn't mean I make them fall in love. Or even force them to feel love. But... a person cannot feel love if they are dead. They cannot accept love if they are eaten away at by addiction. Prison. Crime. Hatred. These are all obstacles to love. Not just sex or romance but... all love." Man-at-Arms conciders this for a bit, and then nods in agreement to Heart Girl's words. "That sounds right to me. And quite a challenge. It seems an almost inherent part of the human condition, that we squelch much of the love in our lives." Heart Girl turns to watch the world. The street below. The sky above. "Parents want their children to be a certain way. Either to be what they think will be successful or to be what they could not be. Lovers want each other to change. A little thing here. A little thing there. To be a little more of a perfect match. Children want perfection from their parents, even when they know they cannot be. Friends sink deeply into their own emotions, projecting them onto each other. It is... hard." Something in Man-at-Arms seems to resonate, painfully, to the thought of parents wanting their children to be a certain way. "It is good, then, that love has you to try to help." Just that. Nothing more. No flowery speeches. "I hope so." Heart Girl says, softly. "I do." Then she smiles. "Well. Here we are. Two young, super powered people in a city that never sleeps." She waves to the city. Which is not sleeping. Since it is daytime. Well, someone is sleeping, probably. Several someone's most likely. The armored male gazes out across the city at Heart Girl's side, clearly thinking about something. "I suppose you're right. Honestly, I know there are others out there. But you're the first one I've actually met, or introduced myself to, since this happened. It has been almost a year, now." There's still a sense of guilt there, but at least now the reason for that feeling is better understood from his earlier comments. "It felt good, though. Helping today. Hopefully I can find more chances to help." "There are chances everywhere." Heart Girl says. She lays her hand gently on her companion's arm. "There's no shortage of people in trouble, people needing help, people needing compassion. Even a moment of it. You never know what moment will change someone's life." A hint of color touches the handsome young warrior's cheeks as he nods in response to that. "Well, of course. But usually situations conspire to make helping out harder. Like getting caught. Or the fact that what folks need isn't really something a superhero can provide." He may be gangbusters, but he gets that superpowers can't and don't fix everything. And clearly he works very hard to keep his secret identity. Who can blame him? "True. Sometimes, powers can't fix things." Heart Girl giggles. She rises up and twists so she can float in front of Man-of-Arms. "Good thing you're not just your powers, right? Good thing you have a heart and a brain." "I try, anyway." Man-at-Arms answers. He doesn't sound or seem very convinced of his heart or his mind, but he's not going to argue the point. He tries, and that'll just have to be enough for now. "Some days I really wish I could just stay this way, instead of having to hide." he confesses. "I know how you feel." Heart Girl sinks down so she can sit down on the edge of the roof. "I'm not nearly as pretty as I am like this. I can't feel people's emotions. I don't have the wisdom of previous avatars. It isn't as easy in a lot of ways." Man-at-Arms clanks over to join Heart Girl, taking a seat on the edge of the roof with far greater ease than any normal person could ever do in armor like this. It really doesn't impede his movements at all, rather unfairly. "You can feel emotions?" he asks, curiously. "I can actually feel how people are hurt, physically. It's weird. A lot of the time I don't even have the words to describe what I can sense. But it does help with helping people." Like today, earlier at the accident site. "Strength. Flight. Bullet proof. Empathy. Healing." Heart Girl catalogs her powers, counting them on her fingers. "Oh, and people hear me in whatever language is native for them and I hear them in English." "That is quite impressive." the young soldier offers, genuinely. "A little bit of a team, I guess. I can sense how they're hurt, and you can help fix them." For all he knows, healing is something he'll discover along the way. But it hasn't even occured to him to try, so this is what he has so far. "I'm strong. I don't know how strong. Fast, pretty agile. I can make the armor, my sword, lance, and shield. That kind of stuff. And summon my horse. He can fly, which is neat." He considers for a bit. "I know how to use the sword, the lance, the shield. I never learned, but I know it, cold." "Like me. I knew how to use my powers. How to handle things without breaking them. That sort of thing." Heart Girl smiles. "Makes things easier, I guess. I suppose I should learn self defense but... I just... it seems like such a bad idea for some reason." Man-at-Arms considers Heart Girl a few long moments, before he works up the gumption to answer that one. "Seems like a bad idea? Like maybe you'd hurt someone? Or like it just doesn't fit with the avatar of love?" Two very different things, those. "I... it just seems to me that there's always a non-violent way to resolve a problem if you're willing to work hard enough to find it." Heart Girl says. "Something that doesn't involve hitting and punching people." Given he is the way he is, surely Man-at-Arms would feel differently, right? But he simply nods. "Given a choice, I'd always prefer to solve problems another way. But I'm glad to know how to fight, when nothing else works and people's lives are in danger. It would be awful to have this power and not be able to use it properly to help people." That brings a moment of silence to Heart Girl. "People have to be willing to fight for love." She admits. "But... fighting makes it too easy for hate to slip inside." Unless, of course, that hatred is already inside, right where it lives. Where it gets power. Where it 'belongs.' "That sort of thing must make it really challenging to be the avatar of love. Not many people could walk that tightrope." Man-at-Arms comments, respectfully. "I don't know if I can. Very few avatars died peacefully in their sleep." Heart Girl notes. She looks down at the hearts etched into her bracers. "Still... there are worse things than having a cause." He nods in agreement. "True. There are worse things." Like being lost. Or worse yet, facing every day knowing you're living a lie, denying yourself to those you care for most. "I suppose as long as they died fighting for what they believe in, that has to be enough, hard as it is." "Mmm." Heart Girl says a string of numbers, slowly. "My cell." She explains. "If you ever need to talk. I need to get home so my parents don't worry too much. Call me sometime, alright? We'll hang out." Man-at-Arms' eyes get wide - downright huge - as Heart Girl offers up her cellphone number like that. "I ... well. I don't want to keep you and make your parents worry." He's clearly uncertain about the idea or the etiquette behind calling her, or hanging out with her just to hang out. But he doesn't say no. He tables it to think about later. "Stay safe, Heart Girl. I hope we do meet again." "We will." Heart Girl says with confidence. She leaps into the air, turns and hovers about five feet above and in front of Man-at-Arms. "See you around!" With a smile and a jaunty salute, she's off! Man-at-Arms watches Heart Girl fly away, until he loses sight of her. Then he summons his horse once more, mounting and letting the magical steed carry him down to the ground. Then he finds a safe spot and touches his chest, eyes closed as he concentrates. Eventually, a flash of blue-white light flares, and as it recedes so does the form of Man-at-Arms, leaving that smaller, slight form in civilian attire. A sigh, a slumping of the shoulders, and then that figure emerges and heads for a subway station to get back to Brooklyn. There's still homework to do tonight. Category:Logs